Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors just bought first "deer rifle", Savage 99 in .300, any advice?

I wanted my first centerfire rifle, for hogs and deer. Just did the paperwork on a Savage 99 in .300. Serial number 674XXX which only tells me it was made after 1951, has schnable forearm, receiver NOT drilled or tapped. Bore looks clean and shiny, has a couple small character marks (dents or nicks) on the stock, barrel looks good with better than 80% bluing on the bottom receiver. Hopefully this will be a decent shooter. Paid $400 which for California isn't bad I think, out of a dozen 99's I have seen it's the only one under $500+ and was cleaner than 75% of them, also only one other
had not been drilled/tapped.

The gun dealer was telling me to clean up the wood (did not look like it needed it to me) with fine steel wool and oil, said it would clean up nicely. Can anyone expand on this? I do not want to remove any original stain or do anything to change what appears to be an unmolested 99. I am not a collector
and just wanted a decent shooter at a good price, but do not want to decrease it's resale value or appeal.

Thanks for any info on this model, and no I did not know enough to look at the lever for a letter code or any other ID's on the rifle.

I assume 180 corlokt for hogs and 150 corelokt or powerplus for deer?

You got a Savage 99 EG in 300 Sav (surprise).

It wouldn't have been D&T'd till a bit later so everything is correct. Pretty good price to by the sounds of the condition.

150 corelokt work great on deer, don't know anything about hogs up here except when they go by in the back of the transports.

I wouldn't hit the wood with anything abrasive if it don't need it.

150 grain corelokts are popular with a lot of us on deer size game. It's what I shoot out of all my 300's and deer don't seem to like em too much. Wouldn't be afraid to shoot one or two at a hog myself.

I know I wouldn't want to get hit with one

OK thanks, I will leave the wood well enough alone, looks fine to me. Looking forward to picking it up after the ten day wait.

BTW cartridges are not cheap here, with an eye to reloading in the future, is any manufacturer's brass better than others, ie. Hornady
vs. Remington etc? Or does it not matter and get the cheapest whatever that is appropriate to the job at hand and hang on to the brass?

Winchester and Remington are your choices for bulk brass, and IIRC, Winchester is seasonal. Look here http://www.oldwestsnakeoil.com/index.html for something for the stock.

Where is "here"?

California Bay Area...

DeepCdiver... welcome to the Forum...

An excerpt from my records (below) indicates your rifle could have been made in either late 1952 or early 1953. The "tie-breaker" is the Lever Boss Code ("LBC") which is the most sure way of determining the year of manufacture.

Look on the lever boss which is the lower, front side of the receiver. The LBC will be stamped inside an oval on the opposite side of the point on the lower part of the receiver where the lever rotates.

The LBC is a number (the inspector's number) followed by a letter which indicates the year of manufacture... and is very lightly stamped inside a very lightly stamped OVAL (NOT a CIRCLE) on the lever boss.

The LBC would look like this if your rifle was manufactured in 1952 and Inspector #3 did the final inspection: 3D

You will probably need a magnifying glass and some good light to see the LBC... and your rifle's LBC and/or the OVAL surround it may NOT be complete due to how lightly it was stamped on the lever boss.

Savage began using LBCs in 1949... using the letter "A" to indicate "1949". In 1950, the letter was changed to "B", in 1951, it was changed to "C", in 1952, it was changed to "D" and so on through 1971 when the letter "Y" was used.

The letters "O" and "Q" were skipped due to their similarity.



D= 1952: 621686(3D), 625775(19D). 628,864 (3D), 638145(3D), 643122, 655689, 6693xx, 6726xx, 673018(27D),

E= 1953: 6664XX (19E), 694,7XX(19E) 699XXX(19E), 709xxx(3E-my rifle), 724xxx(20E), 8351xx(0E),



I agree with those who indicated your rifle is probably an "EG". The "EG" was one of the most popular and probably made in the greatest numbers of the different models manufactured during the years your rifle. While made in several different calibers, the .300 Savage caliber was the most common (and one of the most useful) calibers in which the "EG" was made.

My own "99" is a 1953 EG in .300 Savage caliber... and many generations of eastern deer hunters agree the Model 99 rifle in .300 Savage caliber is "THE" ultimate eastern deer rifle and caliber.

I handload 150 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip Bullets in Winchester cartridge cases in front of 40.8 grains of H4895 rifle powder sparked by a standard Winchester large rifle primer for deer hunting at my bestest hunting buddy's cozy cabin up on the High Plateau among the mountain laurel in the Moshannon State Forest 20 miles north of DuBois, Pennsylvania. This combination yields a muzzle velocity (24" barrel) of 2635 fps and fine accuracy of .75 inches at 100 yards.

Enjoy your fine deer and hog rifle... it's one of the BEST! Incidentally, 150 grain Cor-loks or 150 grain Nosler Partition Bullets would be perfect for hogs.

Ballistic Tip bullets are fine for thin-skinner game like deer, but wild boars have a thick, tough "collar" that a Ballistic Tip Bullet might not penetrate.

The ballistics of the .300 Savage cartridge are very similar to those of the .308 Winchester, but that shouldn't be surprising because the .308 Winchester was designed using the .300 Savage cartridge as a model.

Designed in 1920, the .300 Savage cartridge was the original "short, fat cartridge". Using a cut-off .30/06 and given a very sharp, very modern (even by today's standards) 30� shoulder, the .300 Savage was originally designed to match the then-current .30/06 ballistics (150 grain bullet @ 2700 fps) in a shorter cartridge available in a lever-action rifle. While the .300 Savage came close (2630 fps), it never quite made it.

I wouldn't suggest using 180 grain bullets in the .300 Savage because they are long and tend to intrude too far into the cartridge's powder chamber thus limiting the amount of powder that can be put into the cartridge which, in turn, limits the muzzle velocity that can be attained with suitable rifle powders.

A better choice which would get the job done would be a 165 grain premium bullet like the Nosler Partition which would be sufficient for elk, moose or any big game animals in the new world short of the "big bears".

While the .300 Savage would kill a grizzly, Kodiak or Polar bear with reasonable bullet placement, you'd be smart to use a cartridge with more "horse-power" than the .300 Savage on those big fellas. I understand that they can get downright "unpleasant" if shot with too light a rifle... and THAT could ruin your WHOLE day!!!

I hope this information helps you understand what a fine hunting tool you've gotten & what a very special rifle you have.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

deepc

It's not a bad idea to get some Howards Feed and Wax at Home Depot and give the stock a treatment with that. It'll clean it and oil it at the same time. Should be all you'd need.

Any good paste wax will do the same. This works on the steel too.

Welcome to the board. Looks like you got a nice rifle there.

i would use 150 corelokts for deer 180 corelokts for hogs

I run 130gr TTSX for everything.

Check out Cheaper than Dirt for ammo. They have the Bitterroot Valley ammo at a good price !

If you just want to clean the wood and preserve the original finish without adding wax or oil (which will change the finish) just wipe the wood down with Old English Lemon Oil. It will clean the oil, smoke, and dirt and leave the original finish when it dries.

As far as factory ammunition goes, I've had better luck with Federal than Remchester in the .300 Savage. Federal still offers two bullet weights, too!

Dan

Wow! Thanks to all for the great info. Had wondered about the 165 gr Noslers...not sure I will see those in stores. One online site said no shipping to California I am sure 150 corelokt will be easy enough to find, and adequate for deer and the smaller hogs I
will be seeing.

The lemon oil sounds like a good cleaning treatment, will look into the other options for preserving, likely oil based...

great forum here

Are you forced to use no-lead bullets? If so, try the 130 gr Barnes.